Through my friends in the Order of Whispers, I learned that in the Chantry of Secrets a statue of Kormir was erected. By the statue I noticed a familiar face, my old friend S. Strongarm. Next to him was Kormir’s avatar: Seer of Truth. She told us that the remaining Margonites have gathered in the Domain of Anguish and it is up to us to destroy them and finally bring an end to the remnants of Abaddon’s power. With my friend Strongarm at my side, we accepted Kormir’s challenge and once again returned to the Realm of Torment to set things right.

Initially, we asked the forgotten in the Gate of Anguish about the foes we were about to face. Even though most of them were just old enemies, the sheer amount of them posed a problem. We had to put together a sold plan for each area and take it slow. Rushing forward into battle like Kilroy Stoneskin was not an option.

The Gate of Anguish has five portals that instantly take you to the Chantry of Secrets, the City of Torc’qua, Ravenheart Gloom, the Foundry of Failed Creations, or the Stygian Veil. Strongarm and I talked to a forgotten named High Priest Zhellix and discovered that Abaddon’s remaining forces were being led by Mallyx the Unyielding. He also reminded us that we need to clear the four areas before taking on Mallyx. So we set out for the City of Torc’qua first.

By the portal to the City of Torc’qua, a forgotten named Runahs Silus informed us more about the area we were about to enter. Apparently the Margonites here wanted to help Mallyx ascend into godhood. Not only that, but Lord Jadoth, the first Margonite, still lives here.

Entering the area just outside the city compound, it was a bit disheartening to see so many Margonites here. I’ve never fought so many of them at once before.

Deeper in, we caught the first glimpse at Mallyx’s “Ebony Citadel”. It is central to the Domain of Anguish, so as Strongarm and I progress deeper we’ll see the other sides of the building.

Our patience fighting the Margonites paid off, and we were able to kill all of them within the city. Only Lord Jadoth stood between us and the passage to the Stygian Veil. His attacks were not only painful, but also interrupted our actions. The trick was to spread out a bit, so that only one or two of us were interrupted while the rest could continue to assault him.

Leaving the city behind us, we took a good look around the Stygian Veil. This area had a mix of Menzies’ Shadow Army and tormented creatures. The visibility is better here, and we got a clearer view of Mallyx’s Ebony Citadel.

What really caught our attention is this strange “maw”. The Dreadspawn Maw is responsible for birthing more demons. So without any intervention, our enemies would keep populating the Realm of Torment.

Fighting our way through tormented creatures, we had to travel down these toothy tunnels to defeat the four Stygian Lords. Only then could we stand a chance of destroying the maw.

After those efforts, the Dreadspawn Maw opened up and dozens of torment claws and smothering tendrils emerged from the ground. Each time we destroyed a smothering tendril, demonic creatures appeared and attacked us. So it was important take it slow and make sure we were not overrun with foes. Eventually we destroyed enough tendrils to drain the maw of it’s power and watched it fold in on itself and die.

Continuing on, we reached the third area: Ravenheart Gloom. The word darkness doesn’t even begin to describe the sensation here. Somehow closing your eyes doesn’t seem this dark! This area is pitch-black. If not for a small shard of brilliance, imbued with Dwayna’s magic, we’d be bumping into our enemies. Even though Strongarm and I are somewhat used to the terrors of this realm, wandering in the dark and hearing nothing but the twisted cries from tormented creatures, made the hairs on our neck stand on end.

Strongarm and I reflected on what the forgotten Virashak in the Gate of Anguish told us. It mentioned that the Ravenheart Gloom “…leads through the Mists to places even more foreboding than the Realm of Torment…” and also, “…Demons lurk within the repressive darkness, waiting to step through rifts that give them passage to Elona, Tyria, and beyond. Within these dark confines Balthazar’s accursed half-brother Menzies has staged his forces.” I hope that in the darkness, we don’t accidentally stumble into one of these portals!

I found it difficult to not only focus in battle but also take note of my surroundings. It was necessary to close the portals here and prevent more demons from traveling through them, but at least they gave me something to look at. Even our battle with “the Darkness” was hard to take note of in this dark void.

During the battles here, I didn’t have an opportunity to use the shard of brilliance much. Being a ranger, it’s a bit more important to fire arrows into battle. So after I was sure that no enemies were lurking about, I used the shard to look around. To my surprise, a large hand reaching out and a face just beyond it were right in front of me. It spooked me for a moment, but I soon realized that it was stationary and no harm to us.

Lastly, we entered the Foundry of Failed Creations. Here, as we learned from Aurus Trevess, the forgotten, that the Door of Komalie is located here. I’ll feel good about ridding this area of titans, so they cannot terrorize Tyria again.

In my opinion, this area is the hardest because we have to fight so many titans. Once you defeat their first form, more titans spawn in their place. If you defeat too many of them at once, you are overwhelmed by the lesser titans that spawn.

When the foundry was cleared of enemies, we had to help a few forgotten break free from their demonic oppressors. Then, as we escorted them to safety, the Black Beast of Arrgh stood in our way. Still, we had to stay focused and deal with the last of Mallyx’s servants: the Fury. At this point, we were exhausted (physically and mentally) from fighting non-stop. It took a lot of effort to keep pushing forward and complete our task here.

The Domain of Anguish was an insane challenge. After we defeated the Fury, I walked around and paid more attention to the “scenery”. At first I thought that these floating cauldrons were an illusion, but looking back on the photos I took, I realize they are quite real. Obviously their appearance has been altered magically.

Storngarm and I retired back to the Gate of Anguish. There we rested up and prepared to take on Mallyx the following day.